Although differences in the dosing requirements and procedures for radiotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, cytotoxic, or drug agents have been recognized, conventional procedures continue to use these agents provided as pre-set doses and volumes. While production of these fixed dose vials is simpler, differences in the actual total dose required for different patients (e.g., based on weight, age, gender, etc.) leads to waste and increases the risks of administration errors. For example, according to best practices, once a bottle of a radiotherapeutic agent is opened for use on a first patient, it may not be used on another patient due to contamination considerations; any unused amount of the radiotherapeutic agent remaining in the vial must be discarded. Such waste is not only expensive, but also poses exposure problems. The unused radiation dose continues to present exposure risks to the medical personnel and patient, and must be properly disposed of or stored within the medical facility.
In certain situations, the radiotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, cytotoxic, or drug agents are provided as stock formulations having larger volumes, higher concentrations, and/or high specific activities so that they may be used to treat several patients. These stock formulations must be diluted by medical personnel at the hospital or at a compounding pharmacy before administration to individual patients. This step exposes the medical personnel to high radiation doses and/or high concentrations of the chemotherapeutic, cytotoxic or drug agent during the compounding step, and leads to additional contaminated waste. Further, this step increases the risk that the radiotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, cytotoxic, or drug agent may itself become contaminated or may be improperly formulated, leading to increased risks for the patient.